November 2009-Starting Chemo

Yukk - I would have run out of there. Hope you recover from the surgery quickly

(((((((HUGS))))))))

Michele ~ glad to hear you are doing well.  Congrats on the cleavage.  

I am trying not to freak out.  I had my ct scan and blood work for my 6 month check up.  Lung nodule is stable no change in a year now.  So that was good.  Blood work all good, tumor markers etc.  BUT on my CT scan it showed a compression fracture on my spine.  WTH?  I do have some lower back pain but I blame that on tamoxifen and no estrogen.  It is never constant and debilitating. I now have to have a bone density test and an mri of my spine.  I go from freaking out to calm.  The good thing is my alkaline phosphates were well within the limits, that usually goes out of sorts with bone mets.  I am praying for simply osteoporosis.  But if it is the dreaded C ~ I will do battle again. Send up some prayers girls.  Also been freaking with hubby and a blood disorder but all his tests and scans are clear.  Thanks be to god.

Hugs girls.  Hoping you are all doing well. 

Alicia: Hope you get some good news soon, I hope that your good blood work means no mets. How frustrating and scary, keep us posted.

Michele: hope you are recovering well. Doppler intereference? How weird, glad that figured it out before that put you back under the knife!

 Can you imagine??!!  Hopefull, this will "come true..."

New treatment targets early stage breast tumors at the source
posted February 3, 2012
While its widespread use as a standard treatment is still a decade or more away, physicians at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center report they now can successfully inject cancer-fighting drugs straight into a breast tumor. Their research shows that in addition to killing the tumor, the treatment can spare patients surgery and side effects from more radical treatments.

The thinking, according to Dr. Vared Sterns of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., is that "since most cancers originate within the breasts and the cells that line the milk ducts within the breasts, can we possibly eliminate those dangerous cells, and by doing so, eliminate breast cancer?"

The treatment is surprisingly simple. Patients would receive a small dose of a chemotherapy drug directly through the nipple and into the milk ducts where cancer cells or even pre-cancerous cells are forming. Trials showed this technique, which takes only about 30 minutes, to be more effective and less toxic than the conventional method of intravenous chemotherapy.

In traditional chemo, drugs given through the veins are concentrated in the blood system but less so in the breast - the very place they are needed most. In these trials, the opposite was true.

"What we found was that the concentration of the drug within the breast was very, very high, while the concentration of the drug within the blood system was very low," said Sterns. "It is my hope that the treatment can be delivered in just your usual mammogram suite. This has been done in our study quite easily on an outpatient basis. It doesn't take very long. It's not painful."

Still, researchers must determine how much of the drug is needed and how often it must be given to eliminate the cancer. If continued work shows as much promise as these recent trials, it may become standard early stage treatment.

For additional information, review this article at the Cancer Cure Coalition, and this story at ABC News.

So do I Linda - I hate that you are in that situation!!!

(((((((((HUGS)))))))))

Great news Alicia!!! I wish my back would get better, I've been in pain since Tuesday in spite of 3 physio treatments. It's been dodgy for many many years and I just have to put up with it.

WEEHAAA, Alicia.

Hot Damn, Alicia! I am so happy for you

I have scans coming up next week...Echo, MRI, chest x-ray, CT. Please wish me luck!!

Love you girls!!

Fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed for you Linda, keep us posted.

Linda, good luck...but I know you are good.

HI girls ~ found out via Facebook ~ Linda is all clear ~ NED !  woo HOO.

Great news.  

Happy Friday !

Sorry Sue!! I haven't been on the boards lately.

Yes, Ma'am, I AM ALL CLEAR! No evidence of Disease...complete remission. He's keeping me on Herceptin, Zometa, and Zoladex. I have to have my ovaries out come summertime and I get nipples and revisions in two months!!

Melinda, how are things with you?

I'm exceptionally good - had my hair treated (Cacau - a brazillian keratin treatment) - I no longer have chemo curls!!! I've been on cloud nine for 2 whole weeks since I had it done.

Hey Linda - how are your boobs?? Hope you love them.

Looking good, Sue!! I love your hair